Early Works - Jill
She has the gracefulness of a swimming swan
and gentleness of a young fawn
and like the sweetness in the song of a swallow,
her voice serenades my ears when she speaks to me
with all the radiant of diamond gleams
her eyes sparkle when seen.
Just knowing her is a treasure to befall
but loving her is the greatest gift of all
having her as a close and dear friend
is an honour one is proud of until the end
I would be honoured to shout
from the highest hill
this my tribute to the only girl I love - Jill.
Date unknown. (This poem had to be written in 1965 or 1966)
Authors note:
Jill was a girl I was madly in love with before I met my wife. She inspired and influenced a great volume of my writing at the time and since songs, short stories and poems included. My best loved poem Just Beyond The Sunset was actually written with her in mind.
poem by David Harris

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Related quotes
The History Poems Have Not Been Written
The history poems have not been written
The poems after Milosz
The Wallace Stevens poems will never be written
I can’t come close
I have tried the Blake poems
But of course I am not near them either
I would like to the ironic intellectual poems
I might be able to do them
I could do a kind of surrealistic association mind poem a prose poem
But I don’t like that very much
The poems of Jerusalem have not been good enough
Poems of propaganda are awkward and unacceptable
The small poems that tell of my life
They are for me the chance at real poetry
And I will continue as best I can with them
The American poems I have not yet found the idiom for
I can be epigrammatic in Emerson Thoreau fashion
But not with the hard New England observing eye
Borges poems I love
And the stories of mind and literature
Making the drama of a life of a storyteller
Interest me
But I doubt I could truly do them well
Imitation can only take one so far
And through it one may lose one’s way entirely
I can really do only what I am
Not the Dickinson poems nor the Hopkins poems nor the Wordsworth poems nor the Keats poems nor the Amichai poems nor the poems of many others whose poetry I love
The Biblical poems have been tried
The poems of cosmic and scientific reflection
I could try to improve them
There are too many different kinds of poems to write
And I cannot write almost all of them
This is another poem about poems and poetry
I have written many for a long time now
Perhaps I need to go elsewhere and write in a new way
A way I have not dreamed or even remotely understood possible before.
The poems of the unknown poetry await me
I will go on but I am not sure now I know in which wa
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Favourites
Authors are funny creatures
whenever we write.
Most of the time
we don’t like what we’ve written,
but there are occasions
when we will write something
that we really do like,
then we hate
letting that fledgling out of the nest.
I’ve been writing for more years
than I really care to admit,
and yes, I have my favourites
among all the writing I’ve done.
A novel called Blind Tiger
has never left the nest
and a short story called
The Man Who Was Always Late,
again never seen by anyone.
However is saying that,
there have been a couple
I have actually let go.
Both were originally song lyrics,
which I’ve turned into poems.
One I actually sang in a concert at one time
with the curious title of
I’ll Take All The Blame.
The other has really done me proud,
it has reached the dizzy heights
of the top 500 poems here.
It was only released
because I felt it was the only good thing
I had at the time
and is called
Just Beyond The Sunset.
I loved it when I wrote it
on a merry-go-round
some forty odd years ago
as I looked towards the west
at a setting sun.
Now it is the best-loved poem I have
with another fifteen others
adding it to their favourites as well.
26 December 2007
poem by David Harris

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A Poem Is Just A Poem
a poem is just a poem and if it is just a poem
it must be just a poem just like another poem
a poem is nothing but just a poem otherwise
it cannot be my poem; it may speak about
anything, or something, or about everything,
but my poem is just a poem just like anybody's
poem, which is just but a poem, like any other
poem, for a poem to be a poem it must just be
a poem: it has nothing to do with my love, and death
my life, or bliss, but as i have told you, once, twice
thrice, eat some rice, and be that wise, a poem is
just a poem, just like your poem. Why do you insist
on asking, what is happening to me? I am not a
poem, for i am but just the composer of the poem,
need i tell you again, that a poem is just a poem?
just like any other poem, which is just a poem
it is just a voice in my head that i have heard
someone comes and speaks and i listen so
this poem is not actually my poem but the poem
of someone else's: theirs not mine, from a mind.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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The Poem That Perhaps Never Should Have Been Written
THE POEM THAT PERHAPS NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
Not the poem of yesterday
Nor the poem of tomorrow
But the poem of today-
What gives life meaning now.
Not the poem as it is read
But the poem as it is written.
Not the certain poem
But the poem that does not know
If it truly is a poem.
The poem that gives hope only when it is written-
The lesser poem-
The poem that perhaps never should have been written.
The poem I am writing now,
Perhaps for myself alone
The lesser poem
The poem that perhaps should never have been at all.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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The Poem I Am Writing Now
The poem I am writing now
does not know if it will be finished
it does not even know if it will be a poem -
it is slowly appearing line by line
and making its own meaning on the page-
Is it worth anything?
will anyone care?
I don't know -
The poem I am writing now
is just these lines
and these lines like all lines
are only small words
in a vast universe
that has long lived
and will probably longer live
without them.
Why then write these words now?
The poem I am writing now is saying,
'I am here now'.
But why should this mean anything to anyone else?
The poem I have written here
is not the poem I would have posted here
It is only the poem I am finishing now
a poem without great love or belief in itself.
The poem I am writing now
is written.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Consolation Cannot Be The Prize
Sad and angry, consolation
cannot be the prize,
though neither zeal nor agitation
can help to amortize
the feelings of despair and grief,
or blow away the blues
when desperate with disbelief,
and sad from self-abuse.
Agitated with great zeal,
prizes in your grasp
are, when you’re sad and angry, real
as air that makes fish gasp.
My friend Barbara Burbanks, shocked by my poem “Autobiography, ” wrote to me: “You keep writing poems about sad relationships and sexless lives, ” so I decided to write an upbeat poem for a change, but this is what emerged. The poem, revised on 11/30/09, was inspired by words spoken on the BBC regarding the poet Christopher Hill, who was giving a lecture about “Coriolanus” in the Purcell Room of the Royal Festival Hall:
The American critic Hugh Kenner once criticised Geoffrey Hill's poems by saying that language should not be agonised over like Christianity is. It is, I think, Hill's distinction that in volume after volume from the early 'For the Unfallen' to the recent 'The Triumph of Love', he has shown not only how that agonising might take place, but has proved its necessity in our modern world of atrocity and horror amid the failure of adequate response by the professional religious. 'What is the poem? ' asked the narrative voice at the end of 'The Triumph of Love.' What figures? And the response that voice supplies is, 'say a sad and angry consolation.' The voice goes on, 'that's beautiful, once more a sad and angry consolation.'
11/28/00,11/30/09
poem by Gershon Hepner

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The Poem I Did Not Write Today
THE POEM I DID NOT WRITE TODAY
The poem I did not write today
Will never be written.
No one knows what it is
Or where it is
'How it can be? ' is another question
No one can answer.
The poem I did not write today
Never went away
It is always here with me and with you
It is the same simple poem
Written over and over again
In our everyday minds.
It is the poem of love of life
The poem of happiness
The poem of belief in God
And in the goodness in the world to come
It is the poem which believes too that poetry will help save the world.
It is the good poem
The happy poem
The poem I did not write today
Is the poem my life is writing now and always
And with you it says
‘What a miracle it is that we are here
reading and writing
and loving life as we do’.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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This Is My Poem
This is my poem of ______. (date)
This is my poem, written by myself.
This is my first poem never written.
This is my last poem now to be written.
This is the poem I would have written
if I had lived yesterday what I lived today.
This is my poem changing white light
into gold-leaf
and blue into violet.
This is my poem like a heaven twisting
and turning inside of me
all night long.
This is my poem of opening a window
to show what was always inside.
This is my poem encompassing everything
hope can bestow or chance agree with.
This is my poem of open-ended freedom.
This is my poem breathing life into motion.
This is my poem written as I wrote it
a living being.
And this is my poem ending;
but only for today..
poem by Patti Masterman

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I Will Have Written Only One
I WILL HAVE WRITTEN ONLY ONE
I wrote another poem today
The poem that I wrote yesterday
Tomorrow I will write a poem
Whose meaning will not be unknown.
Again and again I continue to write
The single poem of my only life
When all my poems and writing are done
I will have written only one.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Lindsay Okray
This poem was written for someone very special to me, who recently received her Masters Degree from Loyola University, Chicago, IL:
We all a certain someone have,
One whom illuminates our lives.
Tis one whose presence is a salve,
Whose heart on goodness thrives.
This one of whom I mention here,
Has always been a dear,
Her heart is full of love and cheer;
Her eyes and smile, sincere.
She sparkled as an infant so,
Not knowing of her gift.
As each year passed, her radiant glow
Brought to us such a lift!
This girl, this woman, cousin of mine,
Of whom I am so proud!
Has nobly chosen a path so fine!
Aiding others, she has vowed.
Love always,
Juice
poem by Janice McCann

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All I Can Do Now Is Write Another Poem
All I can do now is write another poem-
The poems are small,
And do not require the long hours and long years
Of the books-
Like the world as a whole
I seem to have a shorter attention span
And less patience-
A poem can be written and given a name
In minutes not years-
Though some would say a great poem
Takes the travail of years of waiting
And years of work-
But I did not say
‘All I can do now is write another great poem'
Perhaps I have in all the years of the nights never written one-
I can write the poems I write
My kinds of poems
In a fairly short time-
All I can do now
Is write another of my kind of poems-
Whether they be worth anything,
Or not.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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A Poem Can Be Written Anywhere, Anytime
A poem can be written anywhere, anytime-
A poem can be written too early in the morning
While waiting in Talpiot for ‘Rami Levi Supermarket’ to open-
It can be written in one’s head in a frozen Army barracks in Beit El
Or in a small room on Rav Berlin St on an old Smith- Corona
In the first happy years of one’s marriage-
It can be written for years from Haganah St. in French Hill
In the family years and the lonely ones
It can be written walking by the sea in Tel Aviv
With small children in hand-
It can be written on the same shore years later when one’s life has been broken
By Love’s desertion-
It can be written in old age on Rehov Shahal in Givat Mordechai
As one takes joy from the birth of one’s first grandchild-
A poem can be written anywhere anytime-
I have been writing my poems in Israel
For more than half a lifetime-
May those too
Who come after me
Read and Write Poetry here.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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The Last Poem Was Written Again And Again
THE LAST POEM WAS WRITTEN AGAIN AND AGAIN
The last poem was written again and again
It said ‘All the poems have been written. There is no new poem to write.’
Writing it again now
I wonder how I dare demand the attention
Of any possible reader.
Aren’t they all as fed up with me
As I sometimes am with myself?
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Early Works - Titles
A song from the south
a rhythm in the rain
teardrops like raindrops
on my pillow stain
time will ease the pain
as this ole heart breaks again.
Something in the wind
a song I’ve never heard before
calls to me, call to me
that there is a love finer
a love for me that’s true
she is just waiting close at hand.
Time of temptation
draws me back
to the line I drew
the face I should forget,
but who’s spell
is weaved around me.
3 May 1981
Authors Note:
This poem was an experiment created by using titles from previous works I had all ready written both in poem and in song.
poem by David Harris

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Nothing..
This poem is not about love..
This poem is not about pain..
This poem is not about the things i have learned...
This poem is not for the broken hearted..
This poem is not for the ones seeking help..
This poem is not for the depressed...
This poem is for no one,
Because no one can contain nothing...
This poem is not filled with wisdom..
This poem was not written with love...
This poem was not written for a lover nor a brother...
This poem was nothing special...
Not quite remarkable....
But it is nothing because that what it was...
Nothing and it will never be anything...
poem by Jenna Marie

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Early Works - My Dear Jill
My dear Jill
I’ve heard your ill,
I’d come down and see you
as I think highly of you.
Sadly, I went and caught a cold
and afraid my fate is sold.
I’ll not sign my name at the bottom
in case of a gain ill gotten.
With these flowers I send to you
comes my love and prayers too.
Though these flowers are pretty,
you could shame them with your beauty.
You probably know this, now you know whom
by the many pictures I have of you.
The romantic things you say to me
as I hold the hand of thee
showing just how much you care
and want my love to share.
The love I have for you is strong
and I’ll worry for you all night long.
Every night by my bed,
I’ll pray for your safety through the coming day.
You know not of the greatness your words give
or how in my mind they live.
I am but a single soul
seeking refuge within a shoal.
When I heard of your sickness,
I felt a deep sadness, though
I’m not a religious man
I believe the lord will take your hand
and nurse you back to health.
Though life may have treated you wrong
and for a while the pleasures of life are gone
all because you are sick.
Don’t worry my love
my prayers will help you get better quick.
Date unknown. (Probably 1965)
This was a personal poem I wrote for someone at the time I cared for who was ill at the time. Sadly, we lost touch with each other in the closing of 1966 and beginning of 1967 and have never seen one another since.
poem by David Harris

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I Wrote A Poem I Loved
I WROTE A POEM I LOVED
I wrote a poem I loved
But I could not rest content with it.
I had to write another poem,
And another poem.
And in the writing of other poems,
Some of which I also loved.
I lost the poem I loved.
Essentially I am a writer of poems
And not their possessor.
I possess many poems of others,
But somehow mine, I cannot.
However I love them
Perhaps I really believe
None of them good enough
To be worthy of such love.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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A Tribute To My Friends
As memories of my past revive in my mind
I find a perception of a sign
That holds all the friendship of life
In words only my mind can contrive
This little poem I hope not offends
For it is written as a tribute to my friends
(date written unknown)
poem by David Harris

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This Poem Should Have Been Written Long Ago By Someone Else
This poem should have been written long ago by someone else
They should have said what needs to be said
Clearly and yet beautifully
They should have known what to do with their words and their intimations -
But instead I old I tired old I I with the I I I always I’ing
Have to write it again-
This poem should have been written by someone else
The way I was when I was young
But even then probably it should have been written by someone else
Younger happier stronger wiser more courageous able to give and inspire others to love life more and make it more good and more beautiful
A real poet a great poet should have written this poem
And then it would be one
Even I would try not to forget.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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Girl, Ya Just So Fine
Girl, ya just so fine.
Mmm, Girl, I think about you all the time.
Mmm, Girl, ya always on my mind.
Cuz, Girl, ya just so fine.
Girl, ya just so fine.
Mmm, Girl, I take time to rhyme.
Mmm, Girl, I want ya to be mine.
Cuz, Girl, ya just so fine.
Mmm, Girl, ya just so fine.
Mmm, Girl, it is the time.
Mmm, Girl, to let love shine.
Cuz, Girl, ya just so fine.
Authors Note: I bet your gettin sick of authors notes aren't you? ? hahahaha well here it is comment plz! !
poem by Abdul Malik Habibalah Wajid Hunter

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